Cross-dominance, also known as mixed-handedness, mixed dominance, or hand-confusion, is a motor skill manifestation where a person favors one hand for some tasks and the other hand for others. For example, a cross-dominant person might write with the left hand but throw primarily with the right. Ambidexterity is a well-known but rare variant of cross-dominance, but cross-dominant people may also be left or right-handed rather than ambidextrous.
It can also refer to mixed laterality, which refers to a person favoring eyes, ears, feet, or hands on one side of the body. A person who is cross-dominant can also be stronger on the opposite side of the body that they favor; for example, a right-handed person can be stronger on the left side. Cross-dominance can often be a problem when shooting or in activities that require aim, although athletes can still achieve success in sports that require accuracy, like passing in American football and shooting in basketball.
[edit] In baseball
Because curveballs and sliders, the most commonly used breaking pitches in the game, curve in the direction of a pitcher's non-throwing hand, a batter who bats from the same side of home plate as the pitcher's non-throwing hand enjoys an advantage. In turn, since most pitchers are right-handed, this means that left-handed batters enjoy a noticeable advantage over their right-handed counterparts.[1] However, being a right-handed thrower is more advantageous in the field. Every fielding position can be played by a right-handed thrower, although left-handers enjoy a slight advantage at first base. On the other hand, left-handed throwers are completely absent at the highest level at the other infield positions and at catcher.[2] While switch hitting exists so a batter can put pressure on a pitcher by hitting the opposite hand of the pitcher’s throwing arm, it has gained some criticism because a batter will always be more dominant from one side of the plate than the other; therefore, depending on the throwing hand of a pitcher, the switch hitter may be unreliable. So, many baseball players are trained at being cross-dominant, with batting solely left-handed and throwing solely right-handed to suffice to this advantage.[3] Also, some right-handed throwers' right-eye is the dominant eye, which if batting left-handed, would make the ball easier to see.[4] There are also players like Rickey Henderson, who bat right and throw left; but this serves as a substantial disadvantage and is only done because the player is simply just more comfortable playing that way, which demonstrates that cross-dominance in the sport can sometimes be natural instead of being a strategy.[5]
[edit] Notable cross-dominant people
[edit] Sports
[edit] Sciences
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain.
This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain.
